Five Things
by MandyJane
Summary: Five things you notice about Lily Evans and James Potter...fluffy little oneshot, very cute.


**A/N - Yes, yes, another one. This time...James & Lily at Hogwarts! Enjoy, don't forget to review x**

**The first thing you notice is** their _smiles_.

The way they walk around looking as if their faces might break if they were any happier. The way she sits at breakfast and grins stupidly, staring at a bowl of scrambled eggs just because he eats them. The way he'll just break off from conversation when she walks into the room, as if he's noticing her for the first time ever. They're infectious, though they don't realise it: an emblem for hope in times of terrible darkness. Others see them running through the hallways like children as if they have no reason to be afraid. They make no secret of their feelings – everyone remembers the day that they stretched out a banner in the stars of the Great Hall with their names intertwined. The crowning glory was probably the Midsummer Ball of last year, when they were supposed to open it as Head Boy and Head Girl. They cast an enchantment so that as they danced, two shimmering silver swans rose up from them, mimicking their movements. The swans were tethered together at the neck by a glimmering golden chain which dangled beneath them, somehow managing to entwine the human couple as well. When they reached the ceiling the swans burst into a thousand stars, raining down on the dancers and everyone else in the room. It was unforgettable.

**The second thing you notice is** their _laughter_.

How it echoes through the hallways and classrooms, ringing loud and true and beautiful. His is hearty, deep and yet still boyish, and hers is lighter and just as sincere, and they mingle together perfectly, like the Christmas garlands on the walls. They laugh about everything, sometimes just bursting out with it for no apparent reason and then giggling hysterically for glorious moments. Once they started off at the feast – he had managed to get his tie stuck in a bowl of pumpkin soup, and when he finally realised and fished it out he splashed everyone in the vicinity. They got the entire hall laughing at that one.

**The third thing you notice is** how people are _drawn to them_.

There were always his group of friends: four boys thicker than the thickest of thieves, and she had a few girls close to her as well. Even alone they accumulated people, but together they are a force to be reckoned with. It is as if they have a magnetic pull, and combined there is no-one who can resist. Shy students join them in the library to chat; quidditch fans come to watch them at practice while he shows off; teachers create reasons for them to help with whatever there is; the prefects actually fight over who should be allowed to patrol with them when the other Head cannot. They seem to travel in a haze of other people, the outer parts always changing while the centre remains the same.

**The fourth thing you notice is** how _alive_ they seem.

They're so happy, so dizzyingly wonderfully happy that it strikes everyone off-guard. They have everything: they're beautiful, they're talented, they're in love, and yet they're both incredibly humble. They almost have a glow about them, the golden lights reflecting off her hair and his open face to show that they are blessed in a way, as if nothing can go wrong for them. They're full of vibrancy: her ruddy hair and flashing eyes, their deep red robes, his deep, laughing voice. They seem larger than life: almost too incredible to be real.

**The fifth thing you notice is** how wrapped up in _each other_ they are.

It's a permanent thing, though not instantly recognisable. You see it when he takes her hand as is swings by her side, and she looks up at him and for a moment they are the only two people in the world. You see it when she is engrossed in a book in the common room, and he just can't look away from her. You see it at the matches when she watches him with her hands tightly clenched in her lap, knuckles white, and an awful expression of joy and pain on her face. They don't just mean everything to each other, but they are everything – every smile, laugh, shout, tear. They seem indestructible.


End file.
